Legea europeană a climei: instituirea cadrului pentru realizarea neutralității climatice
Opinion factsheet
Pe această pagină
- schimbări climatice şi energie
- Politica privind schimbările climatice
- Pactul verde european
Opinion number:
CDR-1361-2020
Status:
Adoptat
Objective
The European Climate Law is the centerpiece of the European Green Deal, as it enshrines the climate-neutrality objective within an appropriate legal form and establishes a framework to esnure consistency in reaching it;
The main objective of the opinion on the European Climate Law is to ensure that the Climate Law does not falter in maintaining ambitions and that it allows for future Green Deal legislation and initiatives to take full advantage of the expertise of Europe's regions and cities;
The opinion also aims to highlight the need to embrace the geographic, social and economic diversity of the EU and its many regions, as a "one-size-fits-all" approach does not serve well neither the climate and environmental goals that the Green Deal aims to reach, nor the Green Deal's role as the EU's new growth strategy.
The main objective of the opinion on the European Climate Law is to ensure that the Climate Law does not falter in maintaining ambitions and that it allows for future Green Deal legislation and initiatives to take full advantage of the expertise of Europe's regions and cities;
The opinion also aims to highlight the need to embrace the geographic, social and economic diversity of the EU and its many regions, as a "one-size-fits-all" approach does not serve well neither the climate and environmental goals that the Green Deal aims to reach, nor the Green Deal's role as the EU's new growth strategy.
Impact
The opinion has laid down the foundation on the CoR's approach to the Green Deal, outlining the institutional position on 2030 and 2050 climate targets.
Several of its key proposals and messages were reflected in the final Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and other related institutional actions.
The opinion was also shared and discussed with the EP rapporteur, Jytte Guteland, and points of the CoR opinion were included into the EP amended proposal on the Climate Law, adopted at Plenary in September 2020. Furthermore, the opinion was shared with the EP REGI committee, and it can be argued that REGI noted more in its amendments the role of the LRAs.
CoR promoted the active inclusion of LRAs in climate governance, proposing participatory multilevel dialogue. The final Regulation includes references to multilevel climate and energy dialogues (Art. 11 of the Governance Regulation), acknowledging the role of LRAs.The European Commission's Climate Pact incorporates direct involvement of regional and local actors, consistent with the CoR's emphasis.
CoR proposed a minimum 55% GHG reduction target for 2030 (instead of 50–55% range initially proposed by the Commission).
The final European Climate Law enshrines the 55% target, adopted by the European Parliament and Council in 2021.
CoR supported the objective of a legally binding net-zero GHG emissions target by 2050.
The Regulation confirms this as a binding EU-wide legal obligation, as proposed.
CoR called for territorial-level data collection, regional chapters in EU reports, and public access to climate data.
The Commission and EEA have since improved granular reporting, including regional climate risk assessments and dashboards.
The State of the Energy Union reports began integrating local-level contributions and impacts.
CoR suggested integrating the European Climate Pact into the Climate Law as a governance tool.
While not directly embedded in the legal text, the Pact was launched and expanded to promote citizen-led climate action, reflecting the CoR's call for two-way communication between institutions and the public.
CoR stressed that national adaptation strategies should reflect territorial diversity.
The EU Adaptation Strategy (2021) includes regional adaptation pathways and support for local resilience-building, echoing CoR recommendations.
CoR opposed allowing the Commission to set the 2050 trajectory via delegated acts, arguing it should be subject to co-decision.
The final regulation retained delegated acts, but Parliament and Council gained more oversight, and LRAs gained visibility in related consultation processes.
CoR emphasized that climate action should not undermine biodiversity or regional cohesion.
This is reflected in "do no significant harm" provisions across the Green Deal, Recovery and Resilience Facility, and EU taxonomy regulation.
The EP ENVI report considered some of the suggestions made by the rapporteur. Regarding the nature of the neutrality objective and since the text is established in a EU Regulation, the EU's long-term strategy will be legally-binding. It will convert the EU in the climate action leader at global level, as the opinion claimed. Concerning the forecast after 2050, both organisms call for a sustainable system of negative emissions.
The EP Report also aims at reinforcing and not compromise other environmental priority goals. In this sense, the ENVI Amendment 4 to the Regulation in the recital 1, states that the European Climate Law "aims to protect, conserve, restore and enhance the Union's natural capital, marine and terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity"
In relation with principles, the 'do not harm' principle is mentioned in the ENVI amendment 12 about the recital 5. The principle of active subsidiarity is cited in the ENVI amendment 51, when talking about assessing legislation in the recital 17c.
The CoR Opinion suggested setting up the European Climate Neutrality Observatory. However, the EP Report establishes the European Climate Change Council (ECCC) in the EP amendment 76 regarding the article 2. The idea in essence would be very similar.
The CoR Opinion recommended not to use delegated acts for the European Climate Law and the EP Report shares this proposal in its amendment 84 by deleting the article 9 about the exercise of the delegation. The CoR Opinion asserts that "the use of delegated acts by the European Commission to review the targets is incompatible with art. 290 TFEU".
The CoR claims the use of renewable energy only in order to achieve climate neutrality and reject nuclear power. The ENVI amendments 14 and 20 over the recital 6 and 9b support the idea of a renewables-based transition but it does not mention the exclusion of nuclear power.
In terms of enabling the systematic contribution of LRAs and a multilevel governance structure requested by the Paris Agreement, the EP Report includes the involvement of regions and local authorities in its amendments to a certain extent. For instance, the ENVI amendment 59 adds the regions as a key element in driving the transformation towards climate neutrality. On the same recital 20, the European Climate Pact is included in the European Climate Law text, pointing out the importance of the LRAs engagement, among other actors, in a transparent way. This is also supported by the amendment 16 of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the amendment 14 of the Committee on Regional Development. In that sense, the ENVI amendment 75 about the article 2 also embraces the need of taking into account the regional and local perspectives in order to achieve climate-neutrality objective.
The European Climate Pact and the need of enhancing public participation and transparency are specified in the ENVI amendment 83, which includes the local and regional governments engagement in the article 8 of the Regulation. It explicitly highlights the value of transparency when other actors than Member States are involved in the process.
Moreover, the European Climate Law is not only about mitigation policies. Adaptation strategies are present on the text also and it is important to note the relevance that the ENVI Report gives to LRAs in the precepts related. For example, the amendment 37 of the recital 14a mentions that "Adaptation strategies and plans should… take due account of the territorial specificities and local knowledge". The amendment 10 of the Committee on Transport and Tourism, as well as the amendment 8 of the Committee on Regional Development, highlight the role of the regions and cities too. It can be said that the CoR opinion amendments 2 and 13 related to adaptation in the recital 14 and article 4, influenced the redaction of the Committees on Transport and Tourism amendment 10 as well as the amendments 8 and 12 from the Committee of Regional Development.
Nevertheless, LRAs are not explicitly included in the precepts about the assessment and elaboration of National and Energy Climate Plans. None of the ENVI amendments refers to what the CoR proposed concerning the inclusion of a local and regional chapter in the conclusions of the assessment of national measures and in the Report on the State of the Energy Union. Only the Committee on Regional Development in its amendments 41 and 46 in the articles 5 and 6, emphasizes the regional aspect of the assessment.
In general, the EP Report has taken into account some of the suggestions expressed in the CoR Opinion regarding the inclusion of the LRAs perspective. Perhaps the Committee on Regional Development has noted more in its amendments the role of the LRAs. For example, on its amendment 3 about the recital 5, this Committee transcribes literally the amendment made by the CoR Opinion. However, the European Parliament' Committees could have stressed the need of introducing regionally and locally determined contributions or the assessment, monitoring and data collection by regional entities. It would enhance the role of the multilevel governance, the transparency and the efficiency of the measures, given that the LRAs are the closest government administration to the citizens. As the CoR opinion highlights, "the implementation of climate legislation is mainly relying on European cities and regions".
Several of its key proposals and messages were reflected in the final Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and other related institutional actions.
The opinion was also shared and discussed with the EP rapporteur, Jytte Guteland, and points of the CoR opinion were included into the EP amended proposal on the Climate Law, adopted at Plenary in September 2020. Furthermore, the opinion was shared with the EP REGI committee, and it can be argued that REGI noted more in its amendments the role of the LRAs.
CoR promoted the active inclusion of LRAs in climate governance, proposing participatory multilevel dialogue. The final Regulation includes references to multilevel climate and energy dialogues (Art. 11 of the Governance Regulation), acknowledging the role of LRAs.The European Commission's Climate Pact incorporates direct involvement of regional and local actors, consistent with the CoR's emphasis.
CoR proposed a minimum 55% GHG reduction target for 2030 (instead of 50–55% range initially proposed by the Commission).
The final European Climate Law enshrines the 55% target, adopted by the European Parliament and Council in 2021.
CoR supported the objective of a legally binding net-zero GHG emissions target by 2050.
The Regulation confirms this as a binding EU-wide legal obligation, as proposed.
CoR called for territorial-level data collection, regional chapters in EU reports, and public access to climate data.
The Commission and EEA have since improved granular reporting, including regional climate risk assessments and dashboards.
The State of the Energy Union reports began integrating local-level contributions and impacts.
CoR suggested integrating the European Climate Pact into the Climate Law as a governance tool.
While not directly embedded in the legal text, the Pact was launched and expanded to promote citizen-led climate action, reflecting the CoR's call for two-way communication between institutions and the public.
CoR stressed that national adaptation strategies should reflect territorial diversity.
The EU Adaptation Strategy (2021) includes regional adaptation pathways and support for local resilience-building, echoing CoR recommendations.
CoR opposed allowing the Commission to set the 2050 trajectory via delegated acts, arguing it should be subject to co-decision.
The final regulation retained delegated acts, but Parliament and Council gained more oversight, and LRAs gained visibility in related consultation processes.
CoR emphasized that climate action should not undermine biodiversity or regional cohesion.
This is reflected in "do no significant harm" provisions across the Green Deal, Recovery and Resilience Facility, and EU taxonomy regulation.
The EP ENVI report considered some of the suggestions made by the rapporteur. Regarding the nature of the neutrality objective and since the text is established in a EU Regulation, the EU's long-term strategy will be legally-binding. It will convert the EU in the climate action leader at global level, as the opinion claimed. Concerning the forecast after 2050, both organisms call for a sustainable system of negative emissions.
The EP Report also aims at reinforcing and not compromise other environmental priority goals. In this sense, the ENVI Amendment 4 to the Regulation in the recital 1, states that the European Climate Law "aims to protect, conserve, restore and enhance the Union's natural capital, marine and terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity"
In relation with principles, the 'do not harm' principle is mentioned in the ENVI amendment 12 about the recital 5. The principle of active subsidiarity is cited in the ENVI amendment 51, when talking about assessing legislation in the recital 17c.
The CoR Opinion suggested setting up the European Climate Neutrality Observatory. However, the EP Report establishes the European Climate Change Council (ECCC) in the EP amendment 76 regarding the article 2. The idea in essence would be very similar.
The CoR Opinion recommended not to use delegated acts for the European Climate Law and the EP Report shares this proposal in its amendment 84 by deleting the article 9 about the exercise of the delegation. The CoR Opinion asserts that "the use of delegated acts by the European Commission to review the targets is incompatible with art. 290 TFEU".
The CoR claims the use of renewable energy only in order to achieve climate neutrality and reject nuclear power. The ENVI amendments 14 and 20 over the recital 6 and 9b support the idea of a renewables-based transition but it does not mention the exclusion of nuclear power.
In terms of enabling the systematic contribution of LRAs and a multilevel governance structure requested by the Paris Agreement, the EP Report includes the involvement of regions and local authorities in its amendments to a certain extent. For instance, the ENVI amendment 59 adds the regions as a key element in driving the transformation towards climate neutrality. On the same recital 20, the European Climate Pact is included in the European Climate Law text, pointing out the importance of the LRAs engagement, among other actors, in a transparent way. This is also supported by the amendment 16 of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the amendment 14 of the Committee on Regional Development. In that sense, the ENVI amendment 75 about the article 2 also embraces the need of taking into account the regional and local perspectives in order to achieve climate-neutrality objective.
The European Climate Pact and the need of enhancing public participation and transparency are specified in the ENVI amendment 83, which includes the local and regional governments engagement in the article 8 of the Regulation. It explicitly highlights the value of transparency when other actors than Member States are involved in the process.
Moreover, the European Climate Law is not only about mitigation policies. Adaptation strategies are present on the text also and it is important to note the relevance that the ENVI Report gives to LRAs in the precepts related. For example, the amendment 37 of the recital 14a mentions that "Adaptation strategies and plans should… take due account of the territorial specificities and local knowledge". The amendment 10 of the Committee on Transport and Tourism, as well as the amendment 8 of the Committee on Regional Development, highlight the role of the regions and cities too. It can be said that the CoR opinion amendments 2 and 13 related to adaptation in the recital 14 and article 4, influenced the redaction of the Committees on Transport and Tourism amendment 10 as well as the amendments 8 and 12 from the Committee of Regional Development.
Nevertheless, LRAs are not explicitly included in the precepts about the assessment and elaboration of National and Energy Climate Plans. None of the ENVI amendments refers to what the CoR proposed concerning the inclusion of a local and regional chapter in the conclusions of the assessment of national measures and in the Report on the State of the Energy Union. Only the Committee on Regional Development in its amendments 41 and 46 in the articles 5 and 6, emphasizes the regional aspect of the assessment.
In general, the EP Report has taken into account some of the suggestions expressed in the CoR Opinion regarding the inclusion of the LRAs perspective. Perhaps the Committee on Regional Development has noted more in its amendments the role of the LRAs. For example, on its amendment 3 about the recital 5, this Committee transcribes literally the amendment made by the CoR Opinion. However, the European Parliament' Committees could have stressed the need of introducing regionally and locally determined contributions or the assessment, monitoring and data collection by regional entities. It would enhance the role of the multilevel governance, the transparency and the efficiency of the measures, given that the LRAs are the closest government administration to the citizens. As the CoR opinion highlights, "the implementation of climate legislation is mainly relying on European cities and regions".
Essential points
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- supports the establishment of the EU's long-term climate neutrality objective by means of an appropriate legally-binding objective as a necessary step to steer the European project towards irreversible climate neutrality by 2050;
- emphasises that the European Climate Law should also ensure that the measures implemented to achieve the net-zero greenhouse gas emissions must reinforce and not compromise other environmental priority goals, such as biodiversity protection or the management of protected areas;
- highlights the recently adopted Declaration on Local and regional authorities as actors of the European response to the COVID-19 crisis, and the need for the European Green Deal to form a key element of the EU recovery plan, so that the crisis turns into an opportunity to urgently address climate change and to strengthen the EU's economic, social and territorial cohesion;
- believes it is necessary to involve all relevant subnational governments in the drafting of the national energy and climate plans (NECPs) and long-term national policies through a genuine participatory multilevel dialogue based on regional and local experiences;
- reiterates its call for a European climate neutrality observatory to be set up in order to help meet national obligations to submit reports within the framework of energy union governance;
- stresses that tailor-made direct allocation of funds for locally and regionally adapted measures in line with the targets specific to that level would not only have a strong impact on the economy, but also have a mobilising effect on the community's involvement in participation structures;
- stresses that, as the involvement of citizens is key to achieving significant progress towards climate neutrality, initiatives that encourage bottom-up feedback and support the exchange of information and education at grassroots level should be considered invaluable for the success of the European Green Deal; in this regard, suggests integrating the European Climate Pact into the European Climate Law.